This invention relates to the field of attachments for wheelchairs and, more particularly, to a combined wheelchair and desk assembly.
Persons confined in wheelchairs often find the need to utilize trays in order to perform certain tasks. For example, if a person confined to a wheelchair desires to write, it is often necessary to provide a flat surface upon which the person may support a writing surface. Also, persons confined in wheelchairs may require a place to put their food while eating, since it is often not possible to place conventional trays on top of these wheelchairs or merely place the wheelchairs underneath a conventional table. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a tray assembly for a wheelchair which may be removably secured to a wheelchair thereby enabling the person confined to a wheelchair to utilize the tray assembly to perform various tasks without the necessity for utilizing furniture or other persons for assistance.
Various tray and/or desk assemblies for wheelchairs exist. However, there are various shortcomings associated with these currently available wheelchair tray assemblies. Certain types of tray assemblies cannot be placed in a storage or non use position while they are mounted on either one of, or both of, the arm rest of the wheelchair. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,451 teaches a wheelchair table and desk attachment which cannot be placed in a position where the desk surface remains attached to the wheelchair assembly when not in a position for use, i.e., across the arm rest of the wheelchair.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,798, discloses a tray assembly for a wheelchair which may be folded in half. The tray may also be pivoted about a hinge which is affixed to an arm rest so as to be placed in a position of non-use while still attached to the wheelchair arm rest. The problem with this configuration, however, is that the construction of the tray assembly, although allowing pivoting into a non-use position, does not allow for the tray surface to protrude on the outside of the arm rest. If the tray surface were to protrude outside the arm rest, the tray would not be able to pivot about the arm rest and be placed in a storage position. Because the desk surface does not protrude on the outside of the arm rest assembly, a person confined in a wheelchair may not have sufficient area on the desk surface to rest his forearm and/or elbow. Therefore, the only place to rest the forearm and/or elbow is on the arm rest and/or portion of the tray on the inside of the arm rest. This often is insufficient, uncomfortable and inconvenient and therefore causes the person's arm to often slip off the tray surface and/or arm rest thereby limiting the person's use of the desk and/or tray assembly.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a tray assembly which may be mounted to the arm rest of a wheelchair and which contains a surface area of the tray assembly that protrudes on the outer side of the arm rest.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a combined wheelchair and tray assembly which may be folded from a use position into a storage position, alongside the arm rest of the wheelchair, but does not impede the wheel of the wheelchair thereby enabling the wheelchair to be moved while the tray assembly is in the storage position.